


Atonement Part 2

by elfin



Series: Atonement [2]
Category: Flatliners (1990)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-06
Updated: 2017-10-06
Packaged: 2019-01-09 17:26:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12281106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elfin/pseuds/elfin
Summary: David recalls the night’s events





	Atonement Part 2

‘He said... today wasn’t such a good day to die.’ 

I don’t know how long we stood there after we got Nelson back; Rachel stroking his hair, me holding on to his hand like he might slip under again of i let go. Joe and Steckle with their arms around one another, leaning on each other for support. We were shocked out of it by voices outside.

‘Dave, we have to go.’ Steckle was right. 

Unlike the last few times we hadn’t been careful and we hadn’t been quiet. Someone could’ve seen us, anyone could have heard us. Security might already have been on their way. Three of us unplugged everything, hiding the equipment as best we could, all except for the ECG monitor which Rachel held onto and the oxygen cylinder and mask which thank Christ Steckle had the foresight to heft into his arms just before we left. 

Moving Nelson was the worst idea in the world; he should have been kept calm, quiet. But we had no choice. We had a brief but meaningful argument about whether or not to take him to the hospital, which Steckle won. I was already on suspension, he thought I had nothing to lose whereas the rest of them were still in with a chance of keeping their places. I wasn’t thinking of me, I wasn’t thinking of them. I was thinking of the damage to Nelson’s body, to his heart, potentially to his brain. I made them promise we’d take him to my place, and that if he showed any signs of deteriorating they’d let me take him; I’d take full responsibility for the consequences, including Nelson never speaking to me again. They agreed to that.  
   
Joe got the blankets out of the jeep and after sitting Nelson up as gently as we could, we bundled him up in them. I’d undoubtedly cracked a couple of his ribs and my outburst had added to the myriad of bruises Billy had inflicted. We could only hope there was no internal bleeding, but that was probably the least of our worries, the top ones being the symptoms of hypoxia setting in, or a heart attack. He was shivering, shaking, barely able to walk. Joe and I had to half carry, half drag him out to the truck and by the time we got him in the back, he was barely conscious. Rachel wrapped her arms around him to stop him toppling over and the others crowded in an attempt to keep him steady while I drove the couple of miles back to my apartment. Rachel had run it in nine minutes, I drove it in five but then I had to take the long way around; no way was Nelson in any state to walk it.  
   
After the last time I took him home, I left him in Rachel’s care. The actions of a fucking coward, not a friend. It wasn’t a mistake I was about to repeat, not when my heart was still hammering against my ribs so hard I could hear it, and the draining adrenaline was making me nauseous. 

Luckily I got a spot outside my building. Somehow we got him out of the jeep and up the stairs without his heart giving out. I wondered if he even knew where he was or what was happening. Unlike the last time, when he’d been skittish and wrung out but still his familiar cocky, overconfident self, now he was utterly exhausted, reserves spent, ready to drop. We got him onto the bed. I stripped him down to his boxers, pulled the covers over his legs and tried not to stare at the mess Billy and I had made of him. Steckle hooked up the ECG again and we watched the blue line dance across the screen, every beat too fast, too shallow. I took his temperature, which was too high, slipped an oximeter on to the end of his index finger, noting the too low reading. At least his blood pressure was rising slowly. 

‘O2 up.’ I took the mask from Steckle and slipped the elastic over Nelson’s head, fitting the mask to his face.   
   
Rachel arranged the blankets over him, sat on the edge of the bed and stroked his hair until his pulse dropped back to something approximating normal. All I could do was stand and watch and maybe pray to a god I didn’t believe in to get him through this. I felt sick, and I couldn’t shake the feeling of dread that accompanied the rhythmic beeping of the ECG. I was relieved when Rachel reached over and switched it to silent.  
   
In the end Steckle came in and tempted us out with two glasses filled to their brims with Jack Daniels. Rachel and I crashed at either end of the couch. 

When the electricity went out it wasn’t a surprise, it’s not a rare occurrence. I keep a car battery charged just in case. Rachel lit candles while I took apart the power cable of the ECG by torchlight and hooked it up to the battery. No one tried to talk me out of it, so maybe I wasn’t the only one looking to the constant blue line for reassurance every time I opened my eyes.


End file.
